Sol 5.6

  1. Has dawn appeared—or is the Night of Decree rising?

    Or is it a full moon of perfection, hastening to rise?

  2. Is it the east wind, or the breeze of my beloved ones,

    wafting toward us—or are these rising suns?

  3. Do I recognize the rain’s fragrance that has appeared,

    journeying toward the encampment—or is the garden’s perfume spreading?

  4. Guidance—

    do we urge the night journey on, or are those doves cooing?

  5. And seas of gnosis—is there, then, a path of faithfulness

    toward melodies, or are these showers over hermitages?

  6. And the innermost secrets—what are the singing birds:

    armies of death, or are these keen-edged swords?

  7. By my life, yes: the heart has indeed displayed its might

    against the plots of envious men, upstarts, and covetous souls.

  8. Through him I am stirred whenever a state grows intense,

    in the state of love and amid gatherings.

  9. He holds radiant virtues that no possessor has found

    in anyone but him—though in one like you they are held in trust.

  10. He has lofty aspirations that testify of him

    that he is a chief whom all humankind follows.

  11. O my lord, may happiness abide in you, serene,

    and may your eminence endure, abounding in joy.

  12. You have come to proclaim in assemblies and among newcomers,

    and to discourse expansively from reason, while it yields:

  13. “To my merit and knowledge both reason and tradition bear witness,

    and every voice calls out my name:

  14. I am Ahmad So-and-so, a resident of Taybah,

    and a resident of Fez, before whom kings bow.

  15. I am called Abu Faraj; my guidance has unveiled

    the mysteries and marvels of logic.

  16. I am the all-conquering lion in the thick of battle;

    when I charge among the enemy, I have no equal.”

  17. O full moon of perfection, nowhere in our western lands

    is there your equal—never, nor is one rising.

  18. You captivated all humanity with the beauty of your form, and there coiled

    around them love’s wayward impulses, rising toward you.

  19. Strut with coquettish grace and sure proof, and forsake estrangement;

    for you are noble, while Time is ruled by changing temperaments.

  20. How fortunate the protector of the sanctuary of an assembly now revealed—

    for him the cosmos sings, and humankind answers in refrain.

  21. Blessed are they: they have won him, and he is their treasure;

    when raids intensify, he is their defender.

  22. From me be peace; after it I shall utter nothing,

    though startling words of gracious speech follow it,

  23. upon one whose glory God made complete

    with knowledge and forbearance—treasures of right guidance.

  24. And the purest blessing and peace upon the one

    who, by the merit of al-Ghaḍā, intercedes on Resurrection Day,

  25. and upon his family and every Companion, as long as a lover yearns

    at separation from beloveds, while their image gathers him close.

Sol 5.6